{"id":115599,"date":"2025-09-03T12:07:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T12:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/115599\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T12:07:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T12:07:12","slug":"china-flexes-military-might-with-new-weapons-of-war-rolling-down-beijing-streets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/115599\/","title":{"rendered":"China flexes military might with new weapons of war rolling down Beijing streets"},"content":{"rendered":"

China has unveiled a new “triad” of nuclear missiles, drones and lasers at the country’s largest ever military parade.<\/p>\n

Formations of warplanes and helicopters flew above Beijing’s Tiananmen Square after trucks carrying weaponry rolled along streets for all the world to see in a show of strength.<\/p>\n

Marching with an estimated 10,000 soldiers of the Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) was a new cyberspace unit, which is responsible for cybersecurity defence measures.<\/p>\n

President Xi Jinping and more than 20 world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un, watched on.<\/p>\n

“Today, mankind is faced with the choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, win-win or zero-sum,” Mr Xi told a crowd of more than 50,000 spectators.<\/p>\n

Here’s a look at some of the weaponry officially revealed at the parade.<\/p>\n

\"Chinese<\/p>\n

The huge parade in Beijing came six years after the last major military show of might in China. (AP: Andy Wong)<\/p>\n

Nukes that can be launched from anywhere<\/p>\n

China for the first time showed off its triad of nuclear-capable missiles that can be launched from sea, land and air.<\/p>\n

State news outlet Xinhua said the missiles were China’s strategic “ace” power to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and dignity.<\/p>\n

Among the new missiles revealed at the parade was the Dongfeng-5C, or DF-5C, an intercontinental strategic nuclear missile with a “global reach”, according to Xinhua.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The DF-5C intercontinental strategic nuclear missile could be used to strike the US from its launcher silo in northern China. (AP: Andy Wong)<\/p>\n

It is the latest iteration from a missile programme China began in the 1970s.<\/p>\n

It would be launched from a silo in northern China, and is capable of releasing multiple, independent warheads on a single target.<\/p>\n

It could allow China to send a strike that would be hard for the US to defend against \u2014 potentially by going into orbit like a satellite and dropped to hit a target, Tong Zhao, an expert in China’s nuclear weapon systems from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told the ABC.<\/p>\n

It also likely features technology linked to China’s new launch-on-warning capability.<\/p>\n

“This would allow China to launch nuclear retaliation before the enemy’s missiles land on China,” Dr Zhao said.<\/p>\n

Security expert Jennifer Parker told the ABC China had also shown off a new mobile intercontinental ballistic nuclear missile that likely has hypersonic capabilities, known as a DF-61.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The DF-61 nuclear missile can be moved around on mobile launchers. (Reuters: Tingshu Wang)<\/p>\n

Unlike the DF-5C, it can be easily relocated.<\/p>\n

“Effectively, it’s on the back of a truck which means it can be moved around the country,” she said.<\/p>\n

Several models of hypersonic anti-ship missiles, like the YJ-15 , YJ-17 and YJ-19 were also debuted.<\/p>\n

Dr Zhao said these were upgraded conventional missiles and “would be more capable than previous models of penetrating enemy air defences”.<\/p>\n

Australia doesn’t have hypersonic missiles, but is hoping they will be delivered under the AUKUS arrangement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Blue<\/p>\n

The YJ-17 anti-ship hypersonic missiles were displayed at the parade. (AP: Ng Han Guan)<\/p>\n

Drones underwater and in the sky<\/p>\n

China has advanced underwater drones and Ms Parker said it appeared there were two new types on display in the parade.<\/p>\n

One was an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance model and the other would be used for offensive purposes.<\/p>\n

“It’s probably got explosives in the front of it, or the ability to deploy explosives,” Ms Parker told the ABC.<\/p>\n

\"Chinese<\/p>\n

China has uncrewed underwater vehicles for both intelligence gathering and offensive purposes. (Reuters: Tingshu Wang)<\/p>\n

She said they could be a concern, particularly to Western forces in the Pacific.<\/p>\n

“[China] seems to be ahead of other countries,” Ms Parker said.<\/p>\n

“They seem to be accelerating the ability to integrate offensive capabilities \u2014 mines, torpedoes, explosives \u2014 into them.”<\/p>\n

However, she stressed that just because they had been seen on the back of a truck at a parade, it didn’t mean the underwater drones’ capabilities had been proven.<\/p>\n

Ms Parker said it was clear from what was seen at the parade that China had been focusing on uncrewed aerial, underwater and ground vehicles.<\/p>\n

China has been talking up AI integration, and its aerial drones’ ability to operate with fighter aircraft piloted by humans.<\/p>\n

“We don’t know if that’s true, you can’t tell that from the back of a truck, but clearly they are investing in uncrewed capabilities,” she said.<\/p>\n

The parade also featured unmanned helicopters designed to be launched from ships.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

China talked up the ability of its aerial drones to integrate with piloted fighter jets. (AP: Han Guan)<\/p>\n

Lasers to down drones and missiles<\/p>\n

Directed energy weapons, or lasers, were also shown off.<\/p>\n

These are used to counter drones and missiles, Ms Parker said.<\/p>\n

Given the cost of using missiles, which can be several million dollars each, militaries have been searching for less expensive ways to deal with drones, she said.<\/p>\n

\"Chinese<\/p>\n

Lasers are seen as a cheaper and effective way to counter drones and missiles. (Reuters: Maxim Shemetov)<\/p>\n

At the parade, a truck mounted laser was displayed and China also said it has one that can be mounted on a ship.<\/p>\n

They’re not just useful for defence.<\/p>\n

“They could target aircraft,” Ms Parker said.<\/p>\n

“You point a directed energy laser weapon at an aircraft and they’re not going to be having a good day.”<\/p>\n

Why has China shown off these weapons?<\/p>\n

The key themes Ms Parker noticed from the weapons displayed was the focus on uncrewed drones and the ranges and variety of missiles.<\/p>\n

“It demonstrates an advanced capability,” she said.<\/p>\n

“[It’s about] showing a technologically advanced military and this second message of ‘by the way, you don’t necessarily know what we have.'”<\/p>\n

Xi and Putin overheard talking about organ transplants and immortality<\/a><\/p>\n

Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have been caught on a hot mic talking about the potential of medicine to extend human life spans and “perhaps even achieve immortality”.<\/p>\n

UNSW China expert Guangyi Pan told the ABC the new weapons demonstrated the PLA’s vision for future warfare.<\/p>\n

“Undoubtedly, the greatest enhancement is in information warfare and electronic warfare, where the PLA will gain significant advantages,” he told the ABC.<\/p>\n

He said the speed at which the new weapons had been developed showed “China’s leading position in both technological advancement (quality) and industrial manufacturing scale (quantity)”.<\/p>\n

Edward Chan, from the ANU’s College of Asia & the Pacific, told the ABC the parade signalled a significant leap in China’s military capability.<\/p>\n

He said the broad spectrum of new military assets on display, including satellites, missile systems and drones, have been central to China’s military modernisation over the past decade.<\/p>\n

“[They] reflect greater preparedness for potential conflicts in the Western Pacific,” Dr Chan said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"China has unveiled a new “triad” of nuclear missiles, drones and lasers at the country’s largest ever military…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3686,18078,512,81942,3978,43,14512,81943,81941,44,81945,81940,81944,41,39,42,40,15466,66046,9731],"class_list":["post-115599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-beijing","tag-ccp","tag-china","tag-china-weapons","tag-drones","tag-headlines","tag-military","tag-military-hardware","tag-missiles","tag-news","tag-nukes","tag-parade","tag-tiananmen-square","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-weapons","tag-world-war-ii","tag-xi-jinping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}